


Soundly Connected

by borntoblue



Category: VIXX
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-28
Updated: 2015-12-28
Packaged: 2018-05-05 10:56:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5372759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/borntoblue/pseuds/borntoblue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Taekwoon wasn't expecting a phone call, but Hakyeon keeps him on the line anyways.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Soundly Connected

**Author's Note:**

  * For [superlyns](https://archiveofourown.org/users/superlyns/gifts).



> Recipient, I’m sorry I couldn’t write you anything longer, but the prompt was interesting to work with and I hope you enjoy the final product!

Taekwoon wasn’t expecting an afternoon call, so he’s set up in the library when his phone rings.

The familiar notes of an upbeat pop song startle Taekwoon out of his study trance, and he grabs his phone immediately. He hates the thought of disturbing the other students any longer, and besides, there’s only one person who put a custom ringtone for themselves on Taekwoon’s phone.

He brings the phone up to his ear, already stuffing his stray papers into his notebook as Hakyeon starts to speak.

“Taekwoon?” Hakyeon asks immediately. There’s some loud fuzzy noise in the background, as though he’s standing in the wind as he calls. “Are you there?”

“I’m on the silent floor,” Taekwoon mumbles, trying to be as quiet as he can.

Fortunately, Hakyeon’s heard him say that phrase so many times that Taekwoon doesn’t have to be perfectly audible for him to understand it.

“Is this a bad time, then?” Hakyeon asks.

“No,” Taekwoon answers, dropping his pens into his backpack. It isn’t the best time either, but if Hakyeon’s calling in the afternoon there’s probably a reason for it and Taekwoon would feel bad ignoring him.

“Alright, I’ll wait for you to pack up then,” Hakyeon says, quieting down.

They normally schedule calls specifically to avoid Hakyeon calling when Taekwoon’s in the library, but he’s called anyways often enough that he knows the drill. Taekwoon puts his phone down, the continued background noise muting as he places it on the desk, and proceeds to pile all his stray papers inside his notebook.

He stuffs everything into his bag then stands up, sliding his bag onto his shoulders and picking up his phone before headed towards the door.

The background noise is still going, so Taekwoon figures his first guess about Hakyeon being somewhere that's windy is correct. Hakyeon himself doesn’t seem to be making any noise. It’s a bit of a relief to realize that he’s not breathing heavily or anything. Sometimes when Hakyeon calls at weird times it’s because he’s upset, and Taekwoon finds consoling him over the phone awkward. He’s never sure if his words are enough.

Hakyeon remains silent as Taekwoon enters the stairwell and feels himself relax now that the chances anyone will pay attention to him are much slimmer.

“Alright,” Taekwoon says as he starts down the stairs, “go ahead, I can talk now.”

“Ooh, that was quick,” Hakyeon teases.

“I didn’t want to keep you waiting,” Taekwoon responds, taking the stairs slowly while grasping the railing.

“I appreciate it,” Hakyeon says before falling quiet again.

Taekwoon thinks it’s a bit weird that Hakyeon’s losing steam so quickly, maybe he really is upset, but he starts up again before Taekwoon can get properly worried.

“Where are you now?”

“Landing of the second floor,” Taekwoon answers easily before starting down towards the ground floor. He considers finding a seat down there, he doesn’t really want to take Hakyeon’s call outside, but it’s finals season and there are too many people around. He’ll be better off finding another building if he wants privacy.

“Hmm,” Hakyeon answers in turn. “I’m walking around the district near the school. Have I mentioned how expensive it is before?” he laughs a bit to himself. “I know I was talking about how nice it was earlier in the year but that’s turning out to be almost a downside. It’s so hard to find anywhere reasonable to eat, my roommate and I—”

He cuts short, abruptly, and there’s another pause.

“Is there something wrong?” Taekwoon asks. He pauses at the bottom of the stairs, bracing himself for that to be the case.

Hakyeon sighs, and that’s enough of a “yes” for Taekwoon.

He scans the room quickly and he can’t see any free seats, so he sets off out of the library, being met with the cold as Hakyeon starts talking again.

“I miss you more than usual,” he admits, and Taekwoon waits for a reason. “You do remember things about my roommate, right?”

“His name is Minhyuk,” Taekwoon says, swallowing his urge to point out that it’s December already and Hakyeon mentions him almost every time they call. “He was a track and field person before becoming a dancer and you spend a lot of time with him.”

“Yeah, that’s my roommate,” even though Taekwoon got it right, Hakyeon sighs again, sounding vaguely frustrated. “I came out to him without really thinking about it today.”

Taekwoon draws in a breath almost involuntarily.

“Oh.”

“He didn’t do or say anything bad!” Hakyeon quickly elaborates, and Taekwoon breathes out deliberately. “He actually reacted really well but I can’t shake the nerves off and because he asked a bunch of questions about you I miss you more and going for a walk is not helping me calm down, please tell me about what’s going on in Seoul.”

Taekwoon turns down one of the campus’ walking paths, feeling restless himself now that Hakyeon’s told him the story, and tries to think of what’s happened to him since Hakyeon’s last call.

“Wonshik took a long shower this morning,” is the first but perhaps least interesting thing that comes to mind. “He smelled so strongly of soap that I think it was a gift and he’s trying to show them that he used it.”

Hakyeon laughs at the story anyways, “Did you ask him about it?”

Taekwoon almost laughs in return, “No, I’m not you.”

Somehow one anecdote about Taekwoon’s roommate seems to relax them both. Even the wind on Hakyeon’s side seems quieter but maybe Taekwoon’s only just noticing that.

“I’d ask him if he was trying to impress someone, personally,” Hakyeon says after a few seconds. “You’re still sticking by the gift theory?”

“Yes,” Taekwoon says, checking the nearby map to make sure he’s not going to walk right off campus. “He hasn’t been talking about anyone in particular, so I think the soap was from his mother.”

“You’re no fun,” Hakyeon accuses, sounding pouty. “Make up some gossip about Wonshik, come on.”

Taekwoon sighs, unable to actually come up with that kind of thing, and he can hear Hakyeon giggle.

“What about Sanghyuk, then? He never tells me about anything but his classes.”

“He doesn’t tell me anything else either,” there’s not too much opportunity for Taekwoon to talk to Sanghyuk in the first place, now that there’s not Hakyeon dragging them out for meals at the same time. “He’s always busy when I see him, either studying or hanging out with his friends in his year.”

Hakyeon hums in assent, and before Taekwoon can come up with more to say about Sanghyuk, Hakyeon asks after Eunji.

Hakyeon doesn’t normally ask after their mutual friends one after the other like this, but it’s an enjoyable way to talk to him. By the time Taekwoon’s talking about people Hakyeon knows better than him he’s reached the end of the walking path, closer to the science buildings than the library, and he heads towards one of them, hoping to find a place to sit inside.

They’ve exhausted the mutual friends topic and Hakyeon’s not speaking quickly anymore, but Taekwoon still doesn’t know if Hakyeon feels better, so he suspects they’re going to talk for a while longer.

“What’s the weather like there?” Hakyeon asks as Taekwoon approaches the engineering building’s door.

“Cold,” he answers simply. 

Hakyeon laughs, “You must not be enjoying yourself.”

“I’m surviving,” Taekwoon says as he enters the building, going to find a seat as far away from the door as possible. “Is Tokyo cold too?”

“It was getting colder for a while but today it stopped and got a bit warmer,” Hakyeon says. “It’s nice out, that’s why I went for a walk.”

Taekwoon hums in assent, mind drifting back to the other reason Hakyeon went outside and the reason he’s called.

“Are you feeling better?” he asks, not bothering to transition into it.

“ _Much_ better,” Hakyeon breathes out contentedly. “Did you know that your voice is relaxing?”

“Probably only to you,” Taekwoon mutters, sitting down on a bench and leaning his head against the wall. 

“Well, I’m the most important person in the world, so my opinion applies widely.”

Taekwoon smiles to himself, “Of course.”

Without being able to see his expression, Hakyeon takes that more sarcastically than Taekwoon intended.

“Don’t sass me,” he says. 

A gust of wind blows by Hakyeon, its whistling reaching the phone speaker. 

“Never mind what I said about it being nice by the way, two minutes later and it’s cold again.”

“Aren’t you glad it’s cold?”

Hakyeon laughs, “Just because I don’t hate it as much as you doesn’t mean I like it, Jung Taekwoon.”

“But you always complain when there’s no snow,” Taekwoon’s had to listen to it more than anyone for the past two years.

“Oh, you’re right,” Hakyeon sighs. “I wish it could be not cold and also snow at the same time.”

“That wouldn’t be so bad.”

Even now Taekwoon’s almost started liking snow because Hakyeon’s so enthusiastic. If it were possible for snow not to be cold they could both enjoy it fully, and that would honestly be very nice. 

Taekwoon imagines being able to play with Hakyeon in the snow without going inside quickly, and even though Hakyeon’s the one who called, Taekwoon suddenly misses him very much.

“Do you have anywhere to be?” Taekwoon asks, slipping his backpack off and settling down on his bench.

“Not for another three hours,” Hakyeon says. “I should eat at some point, but—”

“You should tell me about Tokyo.”

Hakyeon laughs, “Should I?”

Taekwoon hums in assent, “I told you about everyone here so it’s only fair.”

“You don’t know any of my exchange friends though,” Hakyeon tells him, still laughing, “but since you’re insisting, I’ll catch you up.”

They pass what feels like the rest of the afternoon that way, Taekwoon huddled on his bench while Hakyeon describes his temporary island home.

He thinks he understands what Hakyeon meant about his voice being relaxing. As nice as it is to hear about Hakyeon’s new friends and Hakyeon’s new favourite places, it’s best just to be hearing Hakyeon talk.

“I can’t wait for you to come here,” Hakyeon says, thinking of one of their many holiday plans. “It’s almost a good thing that I slipped up with Minhyuk, now I have someone I can introduce you to properly!”

“I’ll look forward to it,” Taekwoon says, smiling.

He’ll look forward to seeing Hakyeon in person the most.


End file.
